Episode of European Journal

France: The Chinese Cemetery - Tens of thousands of Chinese laborers supported Allied forces in World War One. A cemetery in northern France is a memorial to their fates. The French and British armies recruited millions during World War One. Among those recruits were around 140 thousand Chinese. They were laborers who helped build railway lines or worked in ports and munitions factories in France and Belgium. Conditions were miserable and many died. The largest Chinese cemetery has 841 graves. It is located in Noyelles-sur-Mer, not far from Abbeville. Once a year, Chinese from all over Paris visit the site. Germany: Lead in Game - Most hunters in Germany cling stubbornly to their lead ammunition even though studies show the toxic heavy metal harms predator and prey alike. In other European countries with a hunting tradition, such as Britain or Sweden, using lead ammunition has long been illegal. In Germany, however, it's estimated that as much as nine thousand tons are fired in German forests annually. Each year environmentalists say that birds of prey in particular are threatened with lead poisoning when they consume the remains of animals that have been shot. And people are said to be at risk from lead a well. Estonia: Longing for Russia - The city of Narva, on the outer frontier of the European Union, is falling to bits. The decay has led more and more residents to consider rapprochement with Russia. More than ninety percent of Narva's residents are Russian. Since Estonia joined the EU in 2003, they've suffered more and more economically. A few years ago, a former tailoring collective went broke; ending any hope of affluence in what was once a working industrial town. Today Narva is dirt poor. If anyone, anywhere in Europe is longing for the "good old Soviet days," it would be here on Estonia's eastern frontier. Portugal: Plagued by Plastic - The Portuguese have a dubious claim to fame - their country is known as the "plastic bag" capital of Europe. Every minute, thousands of plastic bags are toted out of shopping centers. Portugal adopted western European consumption habits and the throw-away mentality when it joined the European Union. Now every Portuguese uses around 500 plastic tote bags a year, adding their contribution to the EU total of eight billion. That was reason enough for a video maker to poke fun at this aspect of Portuguese lifestyle.